ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — As investigators continue piecing together what led to the deadly shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University, police are confronting another problem unfolding online: social media accounts and posts claiming to belong to—or contain information from—the student involved and members of his family.
Police Regional Office 9 (PRO9) warned the public on Thursday, August 20, not to immediately believe or circulate accounts, videos and posts whose authenticity has not been established.
PRO9 spokesperson Police Major Shellamie Chang said authorities have received a flood of online material related to the August 18 attack and are checking the information before treating any of it as evidence.
Some social media accounts presented online as belonging to the student appeared to have been created only hours after the shooting, according to Chang—raising an obvious question over whether the profiles circulating after the tragedy are genuine at all.
“Huwag po tayo basta-basta maniniwala,” Chang reminded the public, saying investigators are verifying and validating information before using it in the official investigation.
Accounts Claiming Links to the Family Also Surface
PRO9 said authorities have also received reports involving social media profiles supposedly connected to members of the student’s family.
But after coordinating with the family, police learned that the parents had largely stepped away from social media while dealing with the tragedy.
Chang said the family did not want to further aggravate an already painful situation and was continuing to grieve.
The warning is significant because profiles created immediately after a major breaking-news event can quickly become sources of fabricated screenshots, supposed “confessions,” unverified conversations and claims about motive—material that can spread to thousands of users before authorities have had an opportunity to authenticate it.
At this stage, police have not publicly established who created the questionable accounts, and users should not assume that every profile, screenshot or message attributed to the student or his relatives is authentic.
PNP Is Also Going After the Spread of Graphic Footage
The warning over questionable accounts is part of a broader police response to the massive circulation of material from the shooting.
PNP chief Police General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. has ordered the Anti-Cybercrime Group to identify accounts distributing sensitive images and videos connected to the attack.
The PNP is also coordinating with social media platforms over the removal of copies of the livestream and other graphic material, saying continued circulation could further harm students, families and the wider community.
That means the online aftermath has now effectively become another part of the investigation.
Authorities are examining the student’s electronic devices and online activity as they seek to establish a motive, but investigators have not yet announced a definitive conclusion about what caused the attack. Reuters reported that police are conducting forensic examinations of the student’s devices while tracing how he gained access to firearms belonging to his father.
What Investigators Have Established So Far
The shooting happened on August 18, 2026 at Ateneo de Zamboanga University.
Two students died, including the student identified by authorities as having carried out the attack. The latest police account reported by Reuters identified him as a Grade 8 student, correcting earlier reports that listed a different grade level. A Grade 10 student was killed during the attack.
Authorities also confirmed that the incident was livestreamed using a body-worn camera, a detail that has intensified concern over how violent content involving minors can spread almost instantly across online platforms.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government separately said the student was able to enter the campus with firearms after arriving in his father’s vehicle.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said students entering through the pedestrian gate normally undergo bag inspection, but the student reportedly entered by car, got off at the basement and proceeded into the building without undergoing the same security screening.
Police recovered a Glock 9mm and a Glock .40-caliber firearm allegedly used during the incident.
The circumstances surrounding how the student obtained access to those firearms remain part of the investigation.
Authorities Warn Against Rushing to Explain the Motive
Perhaps the most important point amid the avalanche of social-media posts is that investigators are still establishing the motive.
Claims circulating online about bullying, academic pressure, mental health, gaming communities or particular online groups should therefore not automatically be reported as established causes unless investigators provide evidence confirming them.
Reuters reported that Education Secretary Sonny Angara said teachers regarded the student as academically strong and had not considered him a problematic student before the attack.
Angara also stressed that preventing school violence cannot depend solely on guards, CCTV cameras, fences and metal detectors, saying stronger connections between schools, families and students are also necessary.
Meanwhile, the tragedy has triggered a wider national debate on firearm security and young people’s access to social media. Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian has renewed calls for restrictions on social-media access for children under 16, while Remulla has pushed for stronger accountability when licensed gun owners fail to prevent minors from accessing firearms.
School Community Begins Recovery
Beyond the investigation, Ateneo de Zamboanga has begun providing psychological and psychosocial assistance to members of its community affected by the shooting.
ABS-CBN reported on August 20 that psychological first aid had been provided to 102 students, 75 parents and three faculty members, or 180 people in total.
The figures underline why authorities are asking the public to treat the incident—and especially photographs, videos and alleged personal information involving students—with greater restraint.
For PRO9, the message is straightforward: being viral does not make something verified.
Accounts created after the shooting, screenshots without authentication, supposed private messages and posts attributed to grieving relatives should not be treated as fact simply because thousands of people have shared them.
As investigators search for answers about what happened inside the school, the public now faces a separate responsibility outside it: not allowing misinformation to outrun the evidence.
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